ChinaUrbanization may have played a role in the intensity of Beijing’s recent rainstorm, which dumped 215 millimeters (8.5 inches) of rain over a 16-hour period, according to Chinese government meteorologists, Nature reported. Pollution and heat-trapping materials like asphalt create a “heat island” that causes rainfall to be heavier and more concentrated.

Agriculture
Drought and low water levels on Italy’s Po River have “paralyzed” commercial shipping, Bloomberg News reported. The river is the country’s largest and runs through the main corn and rice-growing region.

Meat, dairy and poultry producers in the United States have petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to suspend its quotas for corn ethanol, warning that such quotas will push food prices even higher amid the drought, the Guardian reported.

A news correspondent for Circle of Blue based out of Hawaii. She writes The Stream, Circle of Blue’s daily digest of international water news trends. Her interests include food security, ecology and the Great Lakes.Contact Codi Kozacek